Contrary to a previous statement by a senior official of the National Health Commission of China, Guo Yanhong recently that people who have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the coronavirus and re-infected again do not transmit the virus infection, a new study revealed that coronavirus patients continue to transmit the infection for up to eight days after recovering According to the New York Post.
The small study, published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, determined that half of the patients were still carriers of the virus even after the symptoms disappeared.
The researchers studied the cases of 16 patients with mild infection who were admitted to the treatment center of a public hospital in Beijing between January 28 and February 9.
"The most important finding of the study is that half of the patients continued to spread the virus even after the symptoms disappeared," says Dr. Lukesh Sharma of Yale University School of Medicine.
The results of the study stated that, on average, patients were still infected with the virus two and a half days after symptoms disappeared, but the individual cases lasted up to eight days.
The researchers cited other studies in the report, which found that those who carry the virus after the symptoms disappear, pass the infection on to others. Given these findings, the researchers warned that patients who seemed to be recovering could spread the disease.
The researchers added that this information "could provide a useful tool for clinicians and policymakers to ensure that patients who have recovered do not spread the virus."
Currently, the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that people with symptoms associated with the Coronavirus have self-isolation for at least three days after "recovering from a fever and stopping the use of fever-reducing drugs."
"If you have mild respiratory symptoms associated with Covid-19, and you stay at home in order not to infect others, you should extend the self-quarantine for another two weeks after recovery to ensure that you do not infect others," said study co-investigator Dr. Lexin Shih. ».
But the researchers pointed out that further studies are necessary because the report was of limited scope. It is unclear whether the same results will be found with an older group or among people with weak immune systems.
"Our study is limited to the number of patients, as there have been limited cases outside the epicenter of the outbreak of the Coronavirus, which have so far been successfully treated out of hospital," the researchers wrote.